Great & Good

Psalm 145:1-21

Transcript

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One of the uh the problems of the human heart, one of many, is not that we don't worship, it's that we worship too small. We were made to worship. We've talked about that here before. And we are always giving our attention and our affection and our trust and our words and our energy to something. We praise what impresses us. We look at something and we think, this is impressive. And we give it praise. We pursue what we think will satisfy us. This seems like something I should pursue. Feels like I will be satisfied in this, so I'm gonna run after it, whether it be money, you know, the list goes on and on. We depend on what we think holds us up. But so often our worship is aimed too low. We give ultimate weight to things that can't bear it. We build our hope on things that can be shaken. We look to created gifts for what only the Creator can give. And when we worship, and when our worship is small, our lives become fragile. If comfort is ultimate to us, then suffering will completely undo us. If success is ultimate, then failure will crush us. If control is ultimate, certainty, uncertainty will devastate us. And if people's approval is ultimate, criticism will devastate us. There's a text that we're going to be in this morning that I think we will find will be encouraging to us, if we allow it to. We will find that the Lord is great above all, he is good to all, and he is worthy of praise from all. This morning we're actually in between sermon series. We just ended our 2 Peter sermon series, and uh next week we're actually gonna be starting kind of where we left off in a previous series with the life of Moses. We got all the way to the death of Moses in Exodus or in um Deuteronomy 34, and we're gonna be picking up where we left off in Joshua, and we're gonna spend a series in Joshua. Uh, but in between that, we're here, and I thought Psalm 145 sounds fun. Let's do that. Now, as we go into this, we we see, and if if you have your Bibles in front of you, we see that the heading of this psalm is a psalm of David, but even more specific, it's a psalm of prayer, a song of praise. In truth, this is the only psalm that is listed like that: a praise song of David. As we know, David wrote a majority of these psalms, uh, but for it to carry a title that is single and solitary means something. Derek Kidner calls this psalm an alphabet of praise. And the reason he calls it that is because this psalm is an acrostic. So it moves to the Hebrew alphabet, so each verse starts with a consecutive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. So and there's only eight other psalms that are like this. And so, in an effect, what this psalm is, this song of praise of David, is is a A to Z of what it looks like to praise. And beyond that, this is actually the last Psalm attributed to David. So there's a lot in here. So as we dive in the structure of Psalm 145, beyond that acrostic, there's actually a little bit more, it goes a little bit deeper. So what David does in this Psalm is he makes a commitment to worship, and then he gives two reasons for that commitment to worship, and then he makes a recommitment to worship, and he gives two more reasons for that reason, for the for to worship, and then another commitment to worship at the end. So it's kind of these three commitments that are all the same, and two reasons in between that we'll find are also the same: God's greatness and God's goodness. And he's gonna come at it from a couple different angles. So we have a commitment, reasons for the commitment, and then finally a commitment to worship again. So as we dive in, pray with me briefly. Father in heaven, we come to your word, we come to this psalm, and we are asking you to speak to us. Speak to us corporately as Hope Church, but also speak to us as individuals. Lord, we we know that your word is living and active. It is relevant for today, as relevant as it was when it was written. And you have something for us this morning. And my prayer for me and my friends in here is that we'd be ready to receive it. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So Psalm 145, verses 1, we're gonna start with verses 1 and 2. David says this, I will extol you, my God and king, and bless your name forever and ever. And then verse 2, every day I will bless you, and I will praise your name forever and ever. So David again, he makes this commitment to God as his king. So David is the king in this moment, but he knows who the king of kings actually is. David has real authority, real honor, real, he is the king, but he knows who the real king is. We have a name for him. His name is Jesus. But what does he commit? He commits to extol him or enthusiastically praise God, and his commitment is to praise the Lord and his character at least on Sunday mornings. Isn't that what he said? Wait, oh, hold on. Oh, actually, he says forever and ever. He will praise God and his character, another one, so his name, to say his name is his character forever and ever. But he's actually doing something more than this, a little bit deeper. As a part of corporate worship in the Old Testament, the king was supposed to lead the people in blessing and praising, so acting as their representative head. So what he's doing here as the king, who's praising the king of kings, is he's actually making a personal commitment, leading his corporate, the people, into that same kind of praise. Into that same kind of commitment. He's committing to it, but leading them in worship to commit the same thing. He makes this commitment and he draws and then he tells us why. Verse 3. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts, on the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works I will meditate. They shall speak of the night of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. So David declares that the Lord is great and therefore worthy to be praised. He says his greatness is unsearchable. So, what does he mean by that? So when God says his greatness is unsearchable, he means that God's greatness is beyond human measurement. There is no way for us to fully measure his greatness. Does not mean unknowable. So David, we cannot, we will never exhaust the greatness of God. It doesn't mean unknowable, but David is praising God because God has made himself known through his works, his character, his mercy, and his kingdom. But even what we truly know of God does not come close to exhausting all that he is. So David is saying there is no end to God's greatness. You could search it, you could study it, you can sing it, you can preach it, you can meditate on it, you can experience it, and you will never reach the end of it. We will never reach the end of it. And this truth is something that we ought to declare, not just to ourselves or to each other, but David says, generation to generation, we shall declare God's mighty acts all the time. He continues on with describing God with phrases like glorious splendor of your majesty, wondrous works. In view are things like the creation of the universe, parting of the Red Sea, these kinds of brilliant things that only God could have done. But he also says, meditate on these things. He will meditate on them. It's a reminder that our worship is not just shallow emotionalism. It includes meditation. It includes thinking deeply. It remembers carefully, it declares boldly. Well, it's true that we'll never get to the end of God's greatness, we should never stop talking about it. In other words, so God is to be praised for his greatness. That's reason number one, and then reason number two, starting in verse seven. They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness, and shall sing aloud of your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and merciful and slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. And his mercy, the Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. So verse seven builds on verse six and also functions as a bridge. We worship when we pass on the mighty deeds of the Lord, and he longs for the next generation to do that. So David is saying, and keep saying that, keep singing it, keep singing it, keep teaching it, teach it to the next generation and the next generation and the next generation. But he also wants us to make famous the goodness of God, the abundant goodness of God. Here in verse 8, David uses a familiar phrase to speak of the goodness of God. He says, The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. If that is something that is familiar to you, it's because it's the way that God revealed himself at Mount Sinai to Moses. Exodus 34, 5 through 6 says, The Lord descended on the cloud and stood with him there, and he proclaimed the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. This is the way that God revealed himself to Moses at Mount Sinai. And David is drawing on this to talk about the Lord's goodness. God is not merely powerful, he is also gracious. He's not only sovereign, he's also merciful. He is not quick-tempered, he is slow to anger. He's not stingy in his covenant love. He is abounding in steadfast love. And in verse 9, he widens the lens, saying, the Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. So obviously, God is good in his special grace, in a way that he revealed himself in Jesus Christ, but he's also infinitely good in what we call common grace that everyone can experience. And this is what David is talking about here in verse 9. The mercy that he gives humanity in the beauty of creation. Even the worst of the worst can experience God's grace by the fact that they're breathing. We breathe in God's grace. When we're able to see a sunset, again, even the worst of the worst, they see a sunset and they that is a grace that God has given them. A grace that God has given them. When we drink clean water, when we smell sweet flowers, whether we are in Christ or not in Christ, we are experiencing God's grace by being afforded that opportunity. So the Lord is good to all, he says, and his mercy is over all that he has made. Let's move on to round two. Verse 10. All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your saints shall bless you. Again, he is continuing his train of thought here in verse 9, uh in verse 9, here in verse 10. He says in verse 1 that I will, and now he says, everything that God has made should give thanks and praise to their maker, and especially all your saints, he says. God's faithful people. So creation gives God praise by being what he has made it to be. The saints give God praise by declaring who he has revealed himself to be. And after again, the commitment that he makes, he starts to give the reason. And this time it's a little bit more kingdom-focused. Verse 11. They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power, to make known to the children of men your mighty deeds and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. David returns to the theme of God's greatness. So again, the reason that we commit to worship him is because God's greatness is so great. But he focuses on God's kingdom. So his greatness is not just abstract. He actually reigns. He sits on the throne now. He rules, he has dominion, his kingdom has glory, power, majesty, and preeminence. So David had seen earthly kingdoms rise and fall. Israel knew the fragility of human kings and human armies and human institutions, but God's kingdom is not fragile, David declares. His dominion does not expire. His purposes are not threatened by human rebellion. So there's another reason for worship. God reigns forever. From his greatness. Because God is burned out and can't do the job anymore. That's not a thing. And with this first commitment, there's another reason to praise God's greatness. So reason number two. So the Lord is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works. The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand, you satisfy the desires of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him. So we're talking about God's goodness here. This final section of the most is one of the most pastoral parts of the Psalm. After lifting our eyes to God's everlasting kingdom, God shows us what kind of king this Lord is. He's not distant, he's not harsh, he's not indifferent, he is faithful, he is kind, upholding, providing, satisfying, righteous, near, preserving, and just. All of these things. David praises God for a number of things that we can go through fairly quickly here, but God's word can be trusted, and God's words are kind. He does not make careless promises, he does not speak beyond his ability, he does not act outside his character, reminding us that God's kindness is not always immediately obvious to us, but it is always true of him. We're reminded that God is one who stoops to the collapsing. He is interested and willing to help those who are hurting, who are marginalized, who are oppressed. God's people do fall. God's people are bowed down. There are seasons of weakness and sorrow and discouragement and pressure, but the Lord does not despise the lowly, he upholds and raises them. So we lean on him when we're in those situations. Verse 15 and 16 remind us of the caring and providing nature of our God. These verses remind us of the generosity of God. This image is beautiful. God opens his hands. The eyes of all who look to you and to give them their food in their due season, your open hand you satisfy the does desire of every living thing. He's not pictured as tight-fisted or reluctant. He gives in due season. So it's not exactly when you want it. He is no genie. But he sustains what he has made. It's a dec declare, it's a it is a declaration that all life depends on God's providential care. So every meal is mercy, every day. Every harvest is grace, and every breath is a gift. Then in verse 17, Psalm 145, 17 says, The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. God is not righteous but cruel. He is not kind but morally soft. He is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. That means everything God does is right, and everything God does is consistent with his holy kindness. This means that we don't fully understand why something happens, but we can trust his character no matter what. He is always right and always kind. The Lord is near to those who call in him, verse 18. And to all who call in him in truth. God's greatness does not make him inaccessible. He is near to those who call in him sincerely. This phrase in truth matters. Because we don't exist in a manipulative religion. So this is not God using God as a last resort while refusing God as king. This is sincere dependence, honest prayer, and humble faith. In truth. The fear of the Lord reshapes our desires. God is not promising to fulfill every sinful impulse of a self-centered wish. He is describing his care for those who revere him, who trust him, and who cry out to him. God's goodness means that he is a God who preserves and a God who judges rightly. In verse 20, the Lord preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. God is truly good, he must oppose evil. And his mercy towards his people does not cancel his judgment against wickedness. And finally, he makes a commitment again, which is his third time making the same commitment. He says, My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord. And let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever. The psalm begins with one worshiper and ends with all flesh. David's praise becomes an invitation. Personal worship becomes public witness. Private adoration becomes a missionary proclamation. Okay. As we turn the corner here, from exposition to a little bit more of application, I do think it would be helpful to address maybe one of the objections that at least that bubbled up to the surface for me as we read this. The old overall idea is that God is worthy to be praised and we should praise. Him all the time and gives two reasons because God is great and because God is good. God is great, God is good. He's unsearchable in his greatness, and there's no depth to his goodness. I think for a modern readers, there there's a couple things that are a little bit difficult potentially to reconcile. Because the truth is our God is great enough to rule over all things, and he is good enough to care for all that he has made, but sometimes those things don't feel like they completely fit together. When we think of greatness, we don't often associate goodness with it. Think about it. I I I can think of the most obvious of examples is typically like an athlete or like a titan of industry. The best of the best. Arguably the greatest basketball player that ever lived is named Michael Jordan. Maybe you've heard of him. Maybe? No? He hasn't played for a long time. Maybe you don't know about him. Really? You guys don't know Kevin. Arguably one of the greatest basketball players of all time and an insane competitor. He competed in everything: golf, gambling, everything. He came up with a game for whatever. Like he just everything. He hated it not being the best at whatever he did. And it drove him. That hatred to not be great drove him to greatness. To reach the highest of heights. But he was notoriously not the best teammate. There's stories of getting punching Steve Kerr in the face. I don't know if you watched The Last Dance at all. He could be cold. He could be mean. He could be harsh. He was best buddies with Charles Barclay. And Charles Barkley, after Michael Jordan retired and he was an executive with the Washington Wizards, he he was a notoriously pretty bad drafter. So he's drafting college and high school players. And he drafted really bad players. And Charles Barkley said that, like on TV, and he and Charles still don't talk because he's so offended by what Charles said about him. And in many ways, this is part of the point. How could Michael get the most out of his teammates if he wasn't a hard-driving jerk? And then in many ways, it was illustrated in The Last Dance. If you watch it, so think about it. All the great men, like if you think about all these movies, Titans of Industry, they will always sacrifice good for great. Always. I want to be in charge, like I'm going to hard drive this, I'm going to do everything that I could possibly do. And that will that will get me to where I need to be. I don't need to be kind. I don't need to worry about how other people, like, I don't need to worry about any of that. I just need to drive, drive, drive, drive, drive. And it gets them to this spot. Achieving and making and all that. That's the goal. So it's so when we start to juxtapose, which in Christ, and we'll see, they are not juxtaposed, but for us, we look at greatness, the great like Bill Gates, well, whatever, like these titans of industry. Bezos, greatness, whatever. We start asking a couple different questions. If God is truly good, why does he allow any suffering? And if God is truly great, sovereign, holy, majestic, ruling over all, can he really be tender? Can he actually be near to us? Can he actually be good? Even another way to think about it is a distortion of God's goodness. That really what's described and what being good means is just this blanket idea of acceptance. That's what it really means to be good. Psalm 45, 145 flies in the face of all of this. Psalm 45 does not let us choose between a God who is great and a God who is good. It doesn't let us distort what it means to be good. The God who reigns over all is the same God who opens his hand, upholds the falling, raises the bow down, and draws near to those who call on him. These are not mutually exclusive in the Lord. So without spending too much time on these things, because I have a lack of time this morning, there was an entire sermon that I've preached on in our God is series called God is Good. That if you want to do a deeper dive on how could God allow suffering and all those kinds of things, feel free to check that out on our website. But let me actually just deal with our text this morning in Psalm 145. Psalm 145 says, God's goodness is not disproved by the existence of suffering. It actually is his goodness is often experienced most personally in the midst of suffering. The fallen are upheld, bowed down are raised, the hungry are fed. Those who cry out are heard. Those who fear him are saved. Those who love him are preserved. Here's the truth that Psalm 145 teaches. The presence of suffering does not mean the absence of God's goodness. The Lord's goodness is not only seen in keeping us from falling, but upholding us as we do fall. God's goodness is not fragile. It does not disappear when life gets painful. His goodness enters the pain, upholds the weak, hears the cry, and preserves the people. And often when people think of greatness, they think distance. The greater someone becomes, the less accessible they often are. Powerful people are often protected, insulated, unavailable, and hard to reach. They higher the rise, higher they rise, the less they seem to notice ordinary people. But Psalm 145 speaks directly into that. It gives us the opposite picture. The Lord's greatness does not make him distant. His greatness makes him able to be near to all who call on him. God is not less compassionate because he is great. He is perfectly compassionate because he is perfectly great. His greatness is not the kind of greatness that needs to protect itself from weakness. His glory is not threatened by stooping low. In fact, one Psalm 145 shows us that one expression of God's greatness is his tender care. Lord is not great like earthly kings who rise above the needy. He is great as an eternal king who stoops to behold, to uphold them. God's greatness does not apply itself like the great people of today's world. Isolation, distance, insulation, none of that. And we see this most beautifully at the cross. At the cross, we see the greatness and goodness of God meet perfectly. Jesus' greatness is seen in his holiness, justice, sovereignty, wisdom, and power. Sin is not ignored, evil is not waved away, and judgment is not dismissed. But Christ's goodness is also seen in his mercy, his love, his acceptance and grace. The Son of God gives himself for sinners. The judge bears judgment. The king stoops to save. The cross tells us that God's goodness is not shallow niceness, his greatness is not cold power. Jesus at the cross proves that God is righteous and merciful. God judges sin and saves sinners. He reigns in majesty and stoops in love. All of that is true. So when suffering raises questions we cannot fully answer, we do not look at suffering as isolation. We look at suffering through the cross. At the cross, we see that the great God is good enough to come near, and the good God is great enough to save. We get to see that in Jesus Christ, God is all good and greater than anyone or anything else. Obviously, so much more could be said, but for a lack of time. Because the Lord is great above all, trust him with all of yourself. Psalm 145.3 says, His greatness is unsearchable. That means we can know God truly, but we can't know him exhaustively. But the application is trust him humbly. There will be things in life that we cannot trace, we cannot explain, we cannot control. But Psalm 145 reminds us that we are not trusting in a small and limited God. We are trusting in a Lord whose greatness is beyond our comprehension and whose kingdom is everlasting. So do not let what you cannot understand keep you from trusting the God who cannot be exhausted. This applies to our anxiety, our suffering, our uncertainty, our parenting, our church life, our finances, the future, and unanswered prayers from our perspective. But continuing on, because the Lord is good to all, call on him in your weakness. Psalm 145 does not show us a God who reigns, not only shows us a God who reigns, it shows us a God who descends. So bring your need to him, fall down before him. The Lord is not annoyed by your falling, he does not despise you when you fall. The great King who is also the good Father, who draws near. And beyond that, because the Lord is worthy of praise from all, make his praise known. This psalm is full of spoken worship. Extol, bless, praise, commend, declare, meditate, speak, pour forth, sing aloud. David praises. David's praises do not stay private, and neither should ours. It moves from, I extol you, to one generation shall commend your works to another, to let all flesh bless your name forever and ever. So the application to this is do not keep his praise to yourself. Praise is not only something we sing upward, it is something we speak outward. The beauty of Psalm 145 is that in many ways it is the it echoes the prayer that Jesus taught the disciples to pray. Just make some parallels for you between Psalm 145 and the Lord's Prayer. I will extol you, my God and King, our Father in heaven. God's greatness is unsearchable. Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. Your kingdom come. The Lord is gracious and merciful. Forgive us our debts. You give them their food in due season. Give us this day our daily bread. The Lord upholds all who are falling. Let us lead us not into temptation. All flesh will bless his name. Yours is the kingdom forever and ever. Amen. Psalm 142 gives us, 145 gives us the God-centered vision that the Lord's prayer turns into daily dependence. David said, The Lord is great and good, and Jesus teaches us to pray. Then let his name be hallowed, his kingdom come, his will be done, his bread be given, his mercy be received, and his protection be trusted. The God whose name is holy, whose kingdom is everlasting, and whose hand is open is the God Jesus teaches us to call Father. So let me encourage you with this. If you are struggling with God for any of the reasons that we've laid out, allow Psalm 145 to re-teach you what it means to praise Him. To reteach you what it means to pray to Him. To reteach you what it means to humbly trust Him. To re-teach you the truth that He cares for you deeply. I wonder what would happen if we read Psalm 145 for like every day for a month straight, what that would do to us. I wonder. Because here's what it teaches The Lord is great above all. He is good to all. And he is worthy of praise from all.